Rocker switch with position indicator

ABSTRACT

This rocker switch comprises a switch body, an operating rocker button and a contacts-actuating converter, both of which latter are mounted rotatably relative to the switch body, said rocker button and said converter being interconnected so as to rotate mutually in reverse directions. An indicating window is provided centrally on the upper part of the rocker button, and a corresponding indicating surface is provided on the upper surface of said converter.

United States Patent [1 1 Ohashi ROCKER SWITCH POSITION INDICATOR [75]Inventor: Shigeo Ohashi, Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Nihon KaiheildIndustrial Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan 221 Filed: May 1974 21 Appl. No.:471,691

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 12, 1973 Japan 48-1298311U][52] US. Cl. 200/308; 116/124 L [51] Int. Cl.

{58] Field 0! Search 200/308, 315; 116/124 L [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3.538.285 11/1970 Orts 200/308 Dec. 23, 19753.610.860 10/1971 Baldwin ..200/315 Primary Examiner-James R. ScottAssistant Examiner-William J. Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pierce,Schefiler & Parker 57 ABSTRACT This rocker switch comprises a switchbody, an operating rocker button and a contacts-actuating converter,both of which latter are mounted rotatably relative to the switch body,said rocker button and said converter being interconnected so as torotate mutually in reverse directions. An indicating window is providedcentrally on the upper part of the rocker button, and a correspondingindicating surface is provided on the upper surface of said converter.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec.23, 1975 Sheet 1 of23,928,743

FIG. 3 [PRIOR ART ROCKER SWITCH WITH POSITION INDICATOR This inventionrelates to the electrical switch art, and is concerned with theprovision of a rocker switch having an improved indicating means.

The invention relates to an indicating device in a rocker-typepush-button switch in which an indicating window is provided centrallyon the upper surface of an operating button of the switch andcorrespondingly thereunder an indicating surface is provided presentingindicia (e.g., OFF" and "ON" characters) thereon. The feature of theinvention resides in that said operating button and a cooperatingcontacts-actuating converter disposed thereunder are interconnected sothat when the operating button is rocked in the left (or right)direction the underlying converter is thereby rocked in the reversedirection, and the upper surface of said converter is utilized as anindicating surface, thereby enabling the indicating window to be madelarger than conventional, thus making on and off conditions of theswitch indicated very clearly and, hence, to prevent misreading of theindications.

The invention will now be more particularly described in the following,taken with the appended drawing, in which:

FIG. I is a cross-sectional front view of a switch according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an indicating portion of the same kinddevised prior to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the corresponding portion according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential portion of the switch;

FIG. 6 is a front view of an essential portion of another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an essential portion of stillanother embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of a switch according to thepresent invention said switch having a central stable position for therockable switch button; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the form of the contact member 7'of FIG. 8.

Referring to the drawings, in FIG. I which shows an embodiment of theinvention on a case 1 of the switch there is mounted, so as to close theupper opening thereof, an operating rockable button 2 free to rockleft-and right. To this end, on the front and rear surfaces of button 2there are provided lugs 2a (FIG. 2) functioning as shaft journals, andin order to receive the lugs there are provided bearing apertures la inthe upper portions of front and rear walls of case I. Alternatively,instead of lugs 2a, a separately-made shaft-pin may be inserted throughapertures la. It is noted that the rocker-type button has been styled abutton because conventionally the form of its upper surface rises andfalls in a manneer similar to a wave, but it is intended to include asan exception also such buttons having a plane fomt or the like, so faras their function is similar.

Below button 2, a contacts-actuating converter 3 is mounted, the samebeing free to rock left-and-right on case I. To this end, lugs 3a areprovided in the lower portions of front and rear surfaces of converter3, for perfonning the shaft journal action, which lugs 3a are placed onupper recesses 4a of vertical plates 4 secured to front and rear innersurfaces of case 1..

Alternatively, instead of lugs 30, a separately made shaft-pin may beinserted through holes which may be bored similarly to and belowshaft-holes la.

Button 2 and converter 3 are inter-connected so as to rotate mutually inreverse directions. To this end, centrally on front and rear surfaces ofconverter 3 there are provided lugs 3b, and correspondingly on the lowersurfaces of front and rear walls of button 2 there are provided downwardprojections 2b in the central portions of which slots 2c are formed.When lugs 3b are inserted into slots 20, as shown in FIG. 1, button 2and converter 3 are inter-connected so that when button 2 is pushed onits left side upper portion, to rotate it counterclockwise, converter 3is made to rotate clockwise by means of the lug-and-recess engagement 2c3b. Lugs 312, also, may be replaced by a separately formed shaft-pin.

On the lower surface of converter 3 there is formed an upwardly directedrecess, into which recess there is inserted a slider 6 with theintervention of a spring 5. An underlying board-shaped movablecontact-member 7 is rockably supported in a seesaw manner, on a bearingmember 8 secured on the inner base surface of case I, and the slider 6is placed on the upper surface of contact member 7 under the pressure ofspring 5 and free to move to the left and right. Stationary contacts 9are secured on the inner base surface of case I at the left and rightsides thereof, which contacts confront the left and right lowersurfaces, respectively, of contact member 7 so as to make contact withthem alternately.

On the lower surface of case I and adjacent the center there is secureda central terminal 10 which is connected to bearing member 8, and at theleft and right sides there are secured terminals 11 and I2 which areconnected to stationary contacts 9, 9.

In FIG. I, projecting from the upper surface of case I to the left andto the right, there are formed flanges lb in which holes 10 are boredfor inserting screws in order to secure case I to a panel or the like.

Centrally on the upper surface of button 2 there is provided anindicating window 2d, and correspondingly the upper surface 3c ofconverter 3 coming close to the window 2d is utilized as an indicatingsurface. Namely, as seen in FIG. 2, at the left and right portions ofthe upper surface 3c there are marked indications suvh as, for example,ON and OFF. Such character indications may be replaced by marks orcolors such as red and blue. Further, these characters and the like may,instead of being marked directly on the surface 3c, be appliedseparately on a sheet of paper or an indicating plate, which in turn isaffixed to surface 3c or fitted into a shallow recess or groove formedon said surface. Furthermore, the window 2d may be closed by fittingthereon a transparent or semi-transparent member of glass, lens or thelike, through which only light is permitted to pass.

FIG. 3 shows the outline of a prior art indicating device of the samegeneral kind. In this FIG., within a rocker button 2' there is providedan indicating post fixed to the switch case. Centrally on the uppersurface of button 2' there is opened an indicating window 2d. andconfronting thereto on the upper surface of post I! there is formed anindicating surface I30 on whicf indications such as ON and OFF arepresented. Buttor 2 is supported free to rock about the axis 2'a. Inthis case, if the width of one side indicating section of indi catingsurface 13a is w, the arc length the button 2' moves from the leftwardlyinclined position as shown to the opposite rightwardly inclined positionmust be w. If the arc length the button move were shorter than theabove, the lefthand side indicating section on the surface 13a whichmust be concealed would not be completely concealed.

In contrast to the above, FIG. 4 shows the outline of an indicatingdevice according to the present invention. In the FIG., the button 2 isinclined leftwardly and at the same time the converter 3 havingindicating surface 30 is inclined rightwardly. Now, similarly as abovestated, if the width of one side indicating section of the indicatingsurface 3c is w, the arc length through which the button 2 must movefrom the left as shown to the opposite (rightwardly inclined) positionis WI 2, because at the same time the button 2 moves wl2 to the rightthe indicating surface 30 moves wl2 to the left and hence the relativemovement of both becomes their sum w. Therefore, the result is that,relating to both figures, if widths of lef-and-right movement of buttons2 and 2' are equal, the width of each indicating section on theindicating surface and the width of the indicating window in the case ofthe structure in FIG. 4 may be twice those in the case of FIG. 3. Thus,the fact that the widths of the indicating section and the indicatingwindow may be made larger leads to the result that the characters or thelike on the indicating surface may become larger than normal, andaccordingly the indications will be made clearer. By the way, FIG. 5 isa plan view when seeing the indicating device shown in FIG. 4 fromabove, wherein it will be seen that the indication ON is disclosed veryclearly.

In FIG. 6, which shows another embodiment of the invention, centrally onthe lower surface of each of front and rear walls of button 2 there isprovided a triangular projection 2e, and correspondingly, on each offront and rear surfaces of converter 3 and at a position suitablylowered from the upper end thereof there is fonned a mountain-shapedpiece 3d. The projection 2e is engaged with a groove 3e which is formedon the top piece 3d. When button 2 is rocked, projection 2e and groove3e are correlated in a similar relation as the teeth of gear wheelsinterlock; thus, projection 2e drives piece 30'. Alternatively, in FIG.2, groove 2c and lug 3b may be changed to the reverse relation, namelylugs may be provided on button 2 with upwardly directed grooves onconverter 3.

In still another embodiment shown in FIG. 7, button 2 is made separatelyfrom an underlying rectangular cylinder frame 2}", which latter isdetachably connected with button 2 by resiliently engaging a resilientprojection 2 formed on each of the left and righthand lower surfaces ofbutton 2 with the corresponding lower surface of frame 2f. On the uppersurface of button 2 there is provided an indicating window 2d, while ashafi'lug 2a, projections 2b and a groove are provided on each of thefront and rear walls of frame 2f. Further, in this figure, on the uppersurface of converter 3 there are fitted two, left and right, indicatingplates 3f. That is to say, on the upper surface of converter 3 there arepreviously provided on each of the left and right half portions thereoftwo grooves in the front and rear direction, into which groovesdownwardly bent pieces at the left and right side ends of each ofseparately prepared indicating plates 3] are inserted. On the uppersurfaces of the left and right indicating plates 3f there are providedindications such as ON and OFF or the 4 like. The upper surface ofconverter 3 shown in FIG. 4 is drawn so as to substantially coincidewith that shown in FIG. 7.

Although in the above described embodiments button 2 and converter 3 aresupported rotatably on switch case I or on its interior member 4, eitherone or both of said button 2 and said converter 3 may be supportedrotatably on a cover or the like which is made separately from theswitch case itself and is secured to the latter. It is only necessarythat both be mounted rotatably relative to stationary portions of theswitch. Further, converter 3 may be of transparent material with a lampmounted therebeside or therebelow to illuminate the upper indicatingsurface of the converter, whereby the indication will be made still moreclear.

According to the invention, not only is the indicating mechanism verysimple, and hence strong and inexpensive, but also the width of theindicating portion on the upper surface of the operating button ispermitted to be larger relative to a constant width of rotation of thebutton; therefore, the indication of ON and OFF or the like will be madevery clear to prevent misreading. Further, and especially in the case ofa small sized switch, the face that the indicating surface can be madelarger displays a particlarly desirable effect. Furthermore thisinvention, due to its permissible wider indicating surface, may beeasily applied to a three-stage conversion switch having also acentrally located stable position. This latter concept is represented inFIGS. 8 and 9. The switch illustrated in FIG. 8 differs from thatillustrated in FIG. I in that the bearing member 8 of FIG. I is changedto 8' which latter is generally constructed by turning said part 8 ofFIG. 1 about the vertical axis. Also, the upper surface of the plate 7shown in FIG. I is, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, changed soas to present a somewhat concave upper surface instead of the flatsurface illustrated more particularly in FIG. 2. By these features theswitch is given the characteristic that it has a third positionintennediate off and on which intermediate position is stable.

I claim:

I. A rocker switch comprising a switch body, a rockable push-buttonmounted rotatably about an upper axis in said switch body, acontacts-actuating converter mounted rotatably about a lower axis insaid switch body, said button and said converter being mutuallyconnected by lug-and-recess engagement provided on said two members at aposition intermediate between said upper and lower axis so that said twomembers are made to rotate mutually in reverse directions, an indicating window being provided centrally on the upper surface of saidrockable push button, and a corresponding indicating surface beingprovided on the upper surface of said converter.

2. A rocker switch according to claim I, in which said operatingrockable push-button having the indicating window, said converter, and acontact member supported on a bearing member are mutually rockable inreverse directions in turn. I

3. A rocker switch according to claim 1, in which said indicating windowin the operating rockable push-button is provided with a transparentplate.

4. A rocker switch according to claim I, in which said operatingrockable push-button is made three-stage conversible having also acentral stable position.

5. A rocker switch according to claim I, in which said operatingrockable push-button is composed of a rockable push-button portion and aframe member both of which are detachably connected.

7. A rocker switch according to claim 1, in which indicia are providedon the upper surface of said converter so that they can be viewedthrough said indicating window of said operating wave-form button.

1. A rocker switch comprising a switch body, a rockable pushbuttonmounted rotatably about an upper axis in said switch body, acontacts-actuating converter mounted rotatably about a lower axis insaid switch body, said button and said converter being mutuallyconnected by lug-and-recess engagement provided on said two members at aposition intermediate between said upper and lower axis so that said twomembers are made to rotate mutually in reverse directions, an indicatingwindow being provided centrally on the upper surface of said rockablepush button, and a corresponding indicating surface being provided onthe upper surface of said converter.
 2. A rocker switch according toclaim 1, in which said operating rockable push-button having theindicating window, said converter, and a contact member supported on abearing member are mutually rockable in reverse directions in turn.
 3. Arocker switch according to claim 1, in which said indicating window inthe operating rockable push-button is provided with a transparent plate.4. A rocker switch according to claim 1, in which said operatingrockable push-button is made three-stage conversible having also acentral stable position.
 5. A rocker switch according to claim 1, inwhich said operating rockable push-button is composed of a rockablepush-button portion and a frame member both of which are detachablyconnected.
 6. A rocker switch according to claim 1, in which at leastone indicating plate is detachably secured on the upper surface of saidconverter.
 7. A rocker switch according to claim 1, in which indicia areprovided on the upper surface of said converter so that they can beviewed through said indicating window of said operating wave-formbutton.